Usurping the Champion's Throne
by SpeculativeWriter
Summary: It is believed that a new world is created whenever a person makes a decision. A quick switch during his match with Tobias alters Ash's fate, paving the way for him to reach greater heights than ever before.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Alright Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!"

A green blur dashed across the grassy field, gliding over the surface as it raced towards his still opponent. As he drew closer towards his target, the two leaves on each of his wrist elongated and combined, forming two glowing green blades. Leaping into the air as he skilfully dodged an incoming Ice Beam, Sceptile drew his arms back, preparing to strike his formidable opponent.

"Darkrai is unable to battle, Sceptile wins!" declared the referee, raising the green flag indicating Ash's first win over Tobias' infamous Darkrai.

It was the semi-final match in the Lily of the Valley Conference. Having just beaten his rival Paul in the Quarter-finals in their long awaited duel, Ash had moved to the semi-finals and was facing against Tobias and his undefeated Darkrai. The match so far has not been favourable for the young teen, with his first three pokemon being knocked out in only a couple of moves, whilst only doing minimal amounts of damage to their opponent.

"Great job Sceptile, I knew you could do it!" Ash yelled to his pokemon, overflowing with confidence from his small victory. With Darkrai's defeat, Ash knew he still might have a chance of winning this match, no matter how small it may be. That win was crucial for Ash, as he knew that if Sceptile had lost this fight, he would've had little to no chance of victory. A 2v6 upstart win would be theoretically possible, but Ash wasn't willing to take that chance, especially considering it was a match for a position in the finals.

The stadium was abuzz with excitement, as this victory over Tobias was the first one anyone in the tournament had accomplished insofar. For the first time since the elusive trainers' first appearance, the onlookers would get a peek at what other powerhouses Tobias had in his team.

"One down, five more to go. So who's next?" Ash asked his opponent, still brimming with confidence over being the first known person to knock out Tobias' Darkrai in the Sinnoh League.

"You've definitely proved that you earned your soft in the semi-final round. To think I'll be using my second pokemon," Tobias said calmly, as he returned his Darkrai. Suddenly, a smirk broke through his emotionless face as he grabbed one of the pokeballs on his belt, and threw it into the air. "Let's finish off this match once and for all!"

In mid-air, Tobias' pokeball opened and released his second pokemon, a Latios. Upon its release, the Latios swooped down towards the battlefield, circling the fringes of the stadium floor as it elegantly displayed itself for the entire crowd to see. Making one final loop, the Latios gently settled itself in front of Tobias, ready for battle.

'Crap,' Ash thought to himself as he looked at the second legendary he would face. He knew when he was selecting his team that he would have to pick the pokemon he knew had what it took to face off against legendary pokemon.

Looking at his Sceptile on the field, Ash pondered whether or not he should continue with him. Sceptile had only suffered one direct hit from Darkrai, so he was still in considerably good condition. Thinking over the pros and cons over keeping Sceptile in play, Ash decided it would be better to save him for later. Even if he couldn't beat the Latios with just Pikachu and Swellow, he could always use him as a late-game sweeper to finish off the job.

"Sceptile, return!"

"I'm surprised Ash. I never thought you'd be one to back down from a challenge." Tobias taunted. Latios was a formidable foe; any trainer would be weary in facing one.

"Who said anything about me backing down? I'm just getting warmed up," Ash retorted. Grabbing his next pokeball, Ash tossed it into the air in a similar manner to that of Tobias. "Swellow, I choose you!"

"It looks like it's going to be a Sky Battle between Swellow and Latios! It'll be an aerial battle to see you'll end up on top!" the announcer blared through the speaker, stirring up the crowds anticipation over the upcoming battle.

"Swellow, use Quick Attack."

With blinding speed, Swellow closed the gap between herself and the Eon pokemon. As she grew within striking range, the Latios flew up, causing the attack to miss. Without missing a beat, Swellow arced upwards in hopes of pursuing her foe, but ended up being pursued instead. Circling around, diving at each other, outpacing one another. The two pokemon in battle took full advantage of the large expanse of the sky, with both pokemon trying to outdo the other in order to score a critical hit.

With Latios in pursuit, Ash's Swellow took a dive bomb towards the ground, flying at insane speeds in order to throw Latios off her tail. Following in pursuit, the Latios took after the agile bird, slowly closing the gap as they drew closer to the battlefield floor. At the last moment, right before crashing into the grassy field, Swellow pulled up, however the Latios skilfully avoided the collision to the ground as well.

Though the manoeuvre failed to cause fall damage to the Latios, it wasn't all for naught, as Swellow managed to put a significant amount of distance between the two.

"Now Swellow, use Aerial Ace! Take down that Latios."

"Luster Purge, Latios! Knock her out of the sky!"

Once again dive-bombing towards the ground, Swellow shrouded herself within a bright light, charging up the necessary power and speed for an Aerial Ace to take down the Latios. However, as the Swellow drew closer and closer, the Latios; situated right at the floor of the stadium began forming a Luster Purge, its signature technique.

Before Swellow was even half way towards Latios, the enemy's Luster Purge was fired towards her, a sickeningly purple beam that could signify her defeat. Just as the opponent's attack was about to make contact, the blue avian corkscrewed around the beam, picking up speed as it descended. Within the timespan of a couple of seconds between the launch of the Luster Purge, Swellow closed the distanced and landed a decisive hit on Latios' underbelly.

As the Latios flinched from the direct hit, Swellow circled around to gain momentum for another attack. As she charged the Latios with an Aerial Ace once again, the Latios regained its bearings and charged at the Swellow with its own move – a Giga Impact. As the two fliers collided, a resulting explosion occurred, obscuring the view of who was the victor of the two pokemon were the referee, judges and trainers. As the debris cleared, the winner between the two beasts of the sky was obvious to all who watched.

"Swellow is unable to battle, Latios wins!" the referee declared, signalling the defeat of yet another of Ash's pokemon.

* * *

Up in the crowd, mingled among the thousands of other onlookers watching the first semi-final match, sat Dawn, Brock and Barry. Ash's travel companions and one of his rivals looked down at their friend with worry, knowing how hard it was on him, facing off against legendary pokemon.

"On man… I really thought that Ash had a chance," Dawn whined, knowing how much this match meant to her friend.

"Yeah! What's Ash doing? Isn't he supposed to be trying to win?" Barry complained as well. He had mixed feelings in watching the match, especially considering he was sidelined to the stand, instead of out there winning the Sinnoh League.

"There's no need to worry guys. Though it may not look like it, but Ash has faced off other legendaries before and came out as the victor several times in the past." Brock assured, trying to alleviate the worries of the two young trainers.

"Don't you guys think it's unfair, bringing a legendary pokemon like Darkrai to this conference?" Dawn asked, not knowing whether or not there were rules against such pokemon.

"Well officially, trainers can bring whatever pokemon they want to bring. That's what makes this tournament a challenge, as trainers face off others of various difficulties. That way trainers can grow stronger," Brock said to Dawn, answering the question she posed. "In the case of legendary pokemon, there aren't any rules against bringing such pokemon, as trainers owning pokemon of such calibre are quite rare."

"Hey look guys! Looks like Ash's going with Pikachu in this round!" Dawn said, as she turned her attention back to the match at hand. "Go Ash! You can do it!"

"Hey Ash, if you lose, I'm going to have to fine you!"

"Ash! You can win!"

* * *

"I must say, you have battled well so far – you've earned my respect. However, if you really think you can defeat my Latios with a mere Pikachu, you're sorely mistaken."

"It may not look like it, but Pikachu is one strong pokemon. We'll win for sure! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Pika!" With blinding speed, Pikachu dashed forward, darting side to side as it picked up speed, leaving behind a white trail of light as it moved. Nearing Latios, the light fully enveloped Pikachu as he attacked his foe, aiming once again for Latios' underbelly.

Swiftly as ever, the Latios dodged Pikachu's attack with ease, but was however caught off guard by the sudden Iron Tail Pikachu pulled of mid-air, grazing Latios. As Pikachu landed after his partially successful attack on his opponent, he spun around to face Latios again, charging at his enemy as electricity started to cocoon around his nimble body.

Seeing the Pikachu charging at him once again, Latios attacked in return, once more preparing for another Giga Impact to end this futile battle. The two pokemon collided once again, with Latios brushing off Pikachu's attack as if it was nothing.

Shaking itself after being tossed aside by Latios, Pikachu once again dashed across the grassy field, using Agility to increase his speed. As he dashed around the stadium, various after images appeared around him, causing the Latios to be confused over which copy was its real opponent.

"Good job Pikachu! Looks like you learned Double Team!" Ash exclaimed in happiness. "Now, Pikachu! Use Double-Edge!"

"Let's respond in turn Latios! Giga Impact!"

Changing course in response to his trainers command, Pikachu cancelled his Double Team and charged full force at Latios, glowing yellow as the power of his Double-Edge accumulated within. Latios once again saw Pikachu charging at him and responded in turn, hoping to end this fight once and for all.

For the umpteenth time Latios smashed headfirst into his opponent, and once again, knocked them out due to his superior size and power. Suddenly, Latios cried out in pain, as electricity coursed through his body.

"Well, would you look at that folks! It looks like Latios was paralysed by Pikachu's Static ability! Is this the game changing event Ash needs to secure his victory?!" The announcer's voice blared through the speaker, stroking the crowds' anticipation over this battle.

"Alright!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu, this is your chance! Use Quick Attack and then Iron Tail."

Pikachu charged at full speed towards the Eon pokemon, closing the distance between the two in a matter of seconds. As he drew closer, Pikachu's tail started to harden, turning into a metallic colour as the tail hardened to match the strength of metal. With a spin to add more force to the already Quick Attack-boosted attack, Pikachu's Iron Tail landed a critical blow on Latios with a resounding smack.

Due to the paralysis, the Latios was not able to the dodge the attack, thus suffered one of the few clean hits it received whilst in play. Though he couldn't move fast enough to dodge, the paralysis didn't stop him from firing a close-ranged Luster Purge at Pikachu as it hovered vulnerably in the air after landing that powerful blow.

As the close-ranged attack made contact, a huge explosion occurred, throwing Pikachu across the field. Landing heavily by Ash's feet, Pikachu lay unmoving; giving no indication whether or not he was able to continue to battle.

The whole stadium went deathly silent, as everyone was held in suspense over the fate of Pikachu.

"Come on Pikachu, get up! I know you can do it." Ash cried out as he gritted his teeth in anticipation, wondering whether or not his partner was alright. Even after having been travelling with him for so long, the fact of the matter was that Pikachu couldn't take too many hits.

Though Ash was beside himself with worry, Pikachu had dealt a significant amount of damage to the Latios. It was only a matter of whether or not his long time friend would be the one to finish the legendary off, or would Sceptile be used to avenge his fallen comrade.

Over on the other side of the field, Tobias looked over at the battlefield as well, displaying no emotion over the result of the latest confrontation. He knew that both the Swellow and the Pikachu had dealt a significant amount of damage to his Latios, enough that a couple more clean hits might take it down. Having never lost a single pokemon throughout the tournament till now, the thought of losing his second legendary in the semi-finals was something he wasn't going to allow to happen.

"Pikachu is unable to ba-"

"P-Pika~!" a soft yet firm voice broke out from the field, interrupting the referee. On the field as he panted heavily, Pikachu lifted his battered body off the floor, resuming a battle ready stance. He wasn't going to give up yet whilst he still had the strength to fight.

"Latios! Descend and use Luster Purge!"

The command from his opponent broke Ash out of his stupor, reminding Ash that he was still in a battle. As the Latios descended from the heavens, a Luster Purge half-formed at its mouth, a risky plan emerged from Ash's subconscious.

"Pikachu, dodge then jump on Latios!"

The devastating beam was fired from Latios with pinpoint accuracy, hitting the spot where Pikachu had laid a few moments ago. As Latios glided across the floor of the stadium, Pikachu landed perfectly on its back, having jumped to dodge the Luster Purge whilst simultaneously timing his landing to coincide with Latios passing underneath.

Feeling the sudden weight difference, Latios flew high into the sky, performing various aerial manoeuvres in order to get Pikachu off his back. Sharp turns, accelerating and decelerating, barrel rolls and corkscrews, no matter what Latios tried to pull off, Pikachu wasn't letting go.

As Latios was put Pikachu through his paces, Pikachu did his best to compose himself well enough to fire off multiple Thunderbolts, hoping to take down the beast of a pokemon. Pikachu managed to put out two successful, full-powered blasts before Latios put up a Light Screen to reduce the amount of damage the electric mouse was dealing out.

After racing across the stadium once again, Latios took off straight into the sty, performing a vertical climb. Tucking its arms and folding its wings, Latios' speed increased, making it more difficult for Pikachu to hold on. A sudden dead stop and a quick U-turn back towards the ground threw Pikachu off Latios' back, causing him to flail helplessly mid-air.

Positioning itself under the prone Pikachu, the Latios began gathering energy to once again use Luster Purge, blasting his opponent out of the sky. Seeing the familiar purple glow coming from Latios, Pikachu slowly positioned himself mid-air before blasting towards his foe surrounded in a field of electric energy.

Pikachu's Volt Tackle was met head on by the Luster Purge, but Pikachu did not back down. Pawing the air in a way to gather momentum, Pikachu slowly cut its way through the Luster Purge till it was right in front of Latios.

"Now Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!"

Still enveloped with electricity in the midst of Latios' signature move, Pikachu's tail began to glow, hardening once again. Flipping over, Pikachu stretched out as far as he could, hoping to land his last move against the opposition.

An explosion from the resulting attack filled the arena with dust and smoke, obscuring the field once more. Dark clouds were blown in every direction, forcing both trainers to look away. The resulting shockwave from the Pikachu's attack was strong enough to temporarily knock out the power system, cutting off the power in the stadium. The crowd waited in anticipation, hoping to see the victor of the last bout between the two pokemon.

"Pikachu and Latios are both unable to battle. Red Trainer, release your next pokemon. Green Trainer, release your last pokemon," declared the battle judge, looking down at the two unconscious pokemon.

Ash ran across the field, picking up the electric mouse pokemon as Tobias returned his legendary. "Great job Pikachu. Have a long rest now," Ash consoled his friend quietly as he made his way back to his side of the field.

"Sceptile, I choose you!" Ash yelled, releasing the green bipedal lizard onto the field once more.

"It seems like I've severely underestimated you Ash, you've truly earned your place here in the semi-finals. However, this is the end of the line for you. Suicune – finish this!" With a thunderous roar, Suicune made its presence known on the field, readying itself for battle.

"It seems like its crunch time for Ash! How well will his Sceptile face against yet another legendary pokemon? Will he be able to pull off yet another amazing win over Tobias?!" the announcer bellowed out, excitement oozing out of his voice for all to hear.

"Sceptile, Leaf Storm full power!"

"Suicune, use Calm Mind before following it up with Ice Beam."

Glowing leaves appeared all around Sceptile, growing bigger and bigger as more and more leaves clustered together. With a roar, Sceptile launched the mass of leafy blades towards his opponent, overflowing the field as more leaves followed after the incoming projectile.

Steadying itself for the attack, Suicune closed its eyes, focusing its energy within. A soft purple glow began to envelop Suicune, boosting both its offensive and defensive prowess. Opening its eyes as the Leaf Storm approached, Suicune leapt into the air, dodging the attack sent to him before he retaliated in return with his own move.

Sceptile dashed forward, closing the distance between the two fighters whilst dodging the super effective move. Within moments, Sceptile narrowed the distance significantly. Leaping into the air, Sceptile prepared a Leaf Blade to hit his foe as it slowly made its way downwards as it was still prone after its attack.

As Sceptile drew closer, a blue force field surrounded the legendary beast. Suicune's Protect not only repelled Sceptile's attack, it also knocked him off balance. Seeing an opportunity to deal significant damage, Suicune fired off and landed a critical Ice Beam on the grass starter.

With grace, Suicune landed perfectly on the battlefield, watching as its foe landed harshly on the other side. Once again taking the initiative, Suicune formed yet another attack – one swirling with a kaleidoscope of colours. Sceptile, who was still lying prone on the floor as the Aurora Beam was fired, rolled out of the way and stumbled as it tried to regain his footing.

Ash gritted his teeth as he watched the precarious situation Sceptile was in. Though he technically had the type advantage over Suicune, Sceptile had fought a Darkrai earlier as well as the fact that like most water-types, Suicune knew its fair share of ice-type moves.

"Suicune, keep up the pressure! Ice Beam!"

Crystal blue energy formed at the tip of Suicune's mouth, causing the surrounding air growing colder as the temperature in the immediate vicinity dropped to properly form the super effective attack. Seeing the Sceptile heavily injured across the field, Suicune unleashed his Ice Beam, aiming to end this once and for all.

As the beam raced across the field towards Suicune's prone foe, an explosion occurred just as it was about to finish Sceptile off. As the smoke cleared, a frozen wall of leaves stood in front of Sceptile, his body engulfed with a green aura.

"Ladies and gentleman would you look at that! At the very last second, Sceptile unleashed a near instantaneous Leaf Storm as a make shift shield! This power must be the result of Sceptile's amazing Overgrow ability. Although Overgrow may only work when Sceptile's endurance is low, it makes all of Sceptile's attacks overwhelmingly powerful!"

* * *

"Hey Brock, will Sceptile be alright? Overgrow sounds a lot like Blaze…" Dawn asked her friend; worried that Sceptile might react like Infernape had under the influence of his ability.

Brock nodded. "Both Overgrow and Blaze have the same effects in that they increase the strength of the pokemon's moves. However, if you're worried that Sceptile wont be able to control it, don't be. Infernape was a unique case, as it was forced into that state before it was ready to control it. Usually, pokemon develop control over their natural abilities as they grow – Sceptile is no different. He has complete control."

"Overgrow sounds a lot like the ability Empoleon has, Torrent. Huh, who knew there were so many abilities that are so similar?" Barry piped in, knowing that this boost in power was exactly what Ash needed. Barry hoped Ash would be able to use this to his advantage, as this could be his last match in the Sinnoh League. He didn't want Ash go out without giving it his all.

* * *

Sceptile, still surrounded by a green hue, leaped over the frozen Leaf Storm, agilely increasing his speed as he dashed towards the Suicune. Forming Leaf Blades that extended far longer than before, Sceptile made his way to foe, capitalising on his temporary boost as much as possible.

Before Suicune could form an Ice Beam to deter Sceptile's movements, Suicune was barraged by an onslaught of mini super effective projectiles, courtesy of Sceptile. Using Bullet Seed, Sceptile not only dealt damage to his foe, but he also broke the concentration needed to form any response, as it dealt critical damage to Suicune.

Swiping back and forth a Suicune, Sceptile tried valiantly to land a blow, but the nimble legendary beast dodged every attempt Sceptile made. Swiping again once more, Suicune jumped over Sceptile's Leaf Blade once more, only to be struck with a close range Leaf Storm from underneath, a devastating blow from Sceptile's end.

On and on this cat and mouse game went. Sceptile charged at Suicune to gain a hit with his Leaf Blade but Suicune dodged or protected itself. Neither side gave in even as Suicune was limited to a defensive position.

"Enough of this! Suicune, end this match with Blizzard: full power!" Tobias ordered, knowing that if this continued on, there was a chance that he may lose yet another pokemon to the young trainer.

"Sceptile, form a barrier surrounding yourself using Leaf Storm! Don't get hit!" Ash responded in turn.

Breaking off from as they tried to put some distance, both pokemon performed as ordered. With a loud howl, icy wind and snow left Suicune, traveling towards the grass-type lizard. In turn, Sceptile began generating as much power to create a solid barrier to block out the incoming ice-type move.

Ash was forced to look away as the incoming snowstorm beat down upon his last pokemon, cold harsh winds almost forcing Ash to take back. With such a strong move as Blizzard, it was a wonder that Tobias didn't simply end it straight away.

As the strong ice-type move slowly dissipated, the crowd looked towards the field. A large column of ice stood where Sceptile was, with on indication of Sceptile fate. As the audience waited in baited anticipation, a soft yellow glow could be seen from within the icy spire.

Suddenly, a giant beam of light rocketed out of the crystal structure, shattering it into millions of pieces as a Solar Beam raced across the field, nailing Suicune in the midst of its recovery. A loud thud cold be heard, signifying the sound of a pokemon fainting.

"Sceptile is unable to battle. Since the Green Trainer has lost all six pokemon, the Red Trainer, Tobias is the winner!" declared the referee, seeing the collapsed form of Sceptile from the giant hole in the pillar of ice.

"It seemed like Sceptile tried to take Suicune down with him with his last breath but wasn't strong enough to do so. With that, Tobias is declared the winner and will move to the final match in the Lily of the Valley Conference!" the announcer declared, officially signalling the end of the match.

With a heavy heart, Ash returned Sceptile to his pokeball. He knew that Sceptile did his best, almost taking down two legendary pokemon in a single match. However, knowing how close he was to being in the finals was somewhat of a bittersweet moment. Ash made his way to the centre of the field, acknowledging that this was the end of the line for him.

Across the field, also making his way towards the centre of the arena, Tobias thought about how close the last match was. By the time he had returned Suicune to its pokeball after the battle judge it the winner, Tobias finally gained a sense of how close he was to losing. If Sceptile hadn't fainted straight after his attack, it could have ended with another tie or worse, in Suicune defeat.

However, his near loss made him think about the first three pokemon Ash used in their battle. It was obvious at the time that though the pokemon had great potential, they weren't trained to use their full potential. But what if his original judgement was wrong?

Meeting at the centre of the field, both trainers shook hands, signifying no hard feelings between the two, a sign of respect between the two trainers.

"Ash, that was a good battle. It's been a while since I last fought that hard, and for that, I thank you." Tobias said curtly to the young trainer.

"This is the furthest I've gotten in any major tournament so far. I learnt a lot from our battle, so I should thank you. Good luck in the finals." Ash replied. As both trainers made their way off the field, a comfortable silence filled the air, as each trainer pondered over the events of the last battle.

"If I may be so bold to ask, Ash…" Tobias began, breaking the silence between the two. "But I noticed in our fight you used pokemon from various regions. However it seems like they vary in strength greatly, even though they seem to have the potential for all of them to be strong. Is that a matter of preference?"

"Well no. I mean, I love all my pokemon equally… its just that some prefer doing their own training whilst others don't." Ash replied, rubbing the back of his head as he did so. He too also noticed the gap of power between some of his pokemon, but never really gave any thought to it.

Tobias stopped. "Have you considered rotating your party to train all your pokemon equally?" Tobias asked once more.

"Well… I've never really thought of doing that." Ash replied, after giving the question some thought. "Whenever I go to another region, I start off fresh to you know? To get that feeling of 'starting my adventure for the first time' again. I guess I thought bringing some of my old pokemon with me would break the illusion."

Now that he looked back, having some of his older pokemon could have helped make some situations he was in much easier. With pokemon with more experience by his side, it would've been easier to teach moves to his newer pokemon that his older pokemon knew.

"Well, every trainer has their own was of doing things." Tobias answered back after a moment. "Just know this, your pokemon could've been a lot more stronger if you trained them constantly – you might've even had the chance of beating me."

With that Tobias walked off, leaving Ash behind to ponder his parting words. Tobias knew that whatever decision Ash would make here and now may make a difference for future battles. Hopefully one day, Tobias hoped, he would be able to fight Ash at his peak... to see who would be the victor between the two.

* * *

**Hey guys, SpeculativeWriter here :)**

**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the first fanfic I wrote. Any useful tips and/or constructive criticism you have would be nice, as any advice that'll help improve my writing would be appreciated. **

**I know there wasn't much content in this chapter, but it serves more of a prologue… I think. The story should start picking up from here on out.**

**Most of my knowledge and experience of Pokémon comes from playing the games, so I'll probably be basing this story more off of that than rather than the anime. Any other knowledge I put comes from my research using Bulbapedia, like so many other people.**

**I tried to make the fight a close as possible to the anime, using the movesets of each pokemon that Ash and Tobias used that were listed in Bulbapedia in the Latios vs. Swellow &amp; Pikachu matches, so that's why the battle wasn't as good as it could've been. I think this chapter will be one of the closest Anime-based chapters I'll do, so hopefully the battles would be more diverse from now on.**

**1) Pikachu used Double-Edge against Ritchie's Butterfree in episode 79 of the Indigo League **_**'Friend and For Alike',**_** so it's a legit move known by Pikachu in the anime… he just doesn't use it anymore. **

**2) The announcer's description of Overgrow comes from the anime episode '**_**Once More with Reeling'**_** in Ash's battle against May's Blaziken. Although the anime states it boosts ALL of its attacks, Overgrow has a different mechanic in the games- only boosting grass-type moves.**

**3) Sceptile learned Solar Beam against Spencer in the Battle Frontier episode **_**'Ka Boom with a View!'**_** Sceptile's ability to fire off a Solar Beam comes from two things. 1. Latent energy from charging up the Leaf Storm barrier still stored within him and 2. By drawing heat from the air around him then storing it in his body as energy. However, by doing this, Sceptile decreased the temperature around him, thus causing him to be knocked out after firing off his last attack as it sucked out all the remaining heat and energy he had to pull of the last move.**

**If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Reviews would be appreciated. Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

An explosion rocked the stadium, as a powerful Dark Pulse smashed into the prone pokemon. With a resounding crash, Magmortar collapsed onto the field face first, signifying its defeat against the Nightmare pokemon.

"And Tobias seals his victory using only his Darkrai," cried the announcer, seemingly unsurprised by the turn of events. "With that, the winner of the Sinnoh League tournament at The Lily of the Valley Island is Tobias!"

Tobias stood emotionless on the battlefield, slightly disappointed at the somewhat anti-climactic finals of the tournament. After his hard-pressed match against Ash, he had expected more from the other finalist in the completion. Unfortunately for Tobias, this expectation didn't come to fruition, as his opponent quickly fell to the might of his pokemon.

Excluding the encounter with Ash Ketchum in the semi-finals, his Darkrai had remained undefeated throughout the completion, sweeping through the opposing teams all on his own even at times when it faced against pokemon that held a distinct type advantage over the legendary. Though he didn't get the much-anticipated final match he longed for, Tobias wasn't going to complain with his victory. After all, with this League title under his name, it allowed him to challenge the best trainers in the region – the Elite Four.

Amidst the chaos and confusion that was the audience, Ash Ketchum gave a half-hearted cheer, congratulating Tobias for his win. Throughout the match, no matter how much he tried to focus on the battle in front of him, Ash couldn't help but think of the parting words Tobias said to him at the end of their match.

Ash knew he was a pretty good trainer – finishing in the Top 4 and nearly defeating three legendary pokemon in a single match was no small feat for a teen his age. However, no matter how hard, the question of how far he could've gotten if he put a little more effort in training his older pokemon, still bugged him even as he tried not to think about it.

The rest of the conference went by as a blur to Ash, as League officials began to prep the made stage for the closing ceremony. Soon after the final battle that declared Tobias the victor of the Sinnoh League, the crowd dispersed into the streets, hoping to buy food and souvenirs from the remaining stalls that were trying to make their last few sales before this years tournament ended.

Having spent most of his time prepping and participating in battles, Ash never really had the chance to enjoy everything else that the league offered. Going from booth to booth, Ash tried out various food and games, relishing the last few moments at Lily of the Valley Island.

Unlike previous tournaments, Ash spent this time alone – using this time to think about what he would do after the conference. From past experiences, he would typically head home after a tournament to signify the end of his journey at that region, celebrating how well he did with his mom back in Pallet. However, knowing how close he was to reaching his goal to winning the league, Ash wasn't sure if he should continue doing what he had done for the past three conferences, or if he should take some time off to train.

Looking up at the sky, Ash noticed it was almost time to head to the main stadium for the closing ceremony that would officially declare the end of the tournament. Having discussed the matter earlier, Ash would meet up with Brock and Dawn at the main entrance. Being a competitor, finding a seat for the closing ceremony wasn't going to be a problem, as seats were reserved for the participants and their friends and family.

Reaching the pre-arranged meeting spot, Ash saw his travelling companions already there, waiting for him to arrive.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting." Ash called out, making his way towards his two friends.

"Its fine Ash, we just got here." Dawn replied, smiling softly at one of her closest friends. This was probably going to be one of the last times they would be together, but she was going to cherish it to the very end.

"Come on, it's best we head inside now, the closing ceremony's about to begin." Brock added, looking at the nearby clock.

With a nod to acknowledge Brock, Ash and Dawn headed inside, as the closing ceremony was drawing closer by each passing moment.

* * *

Upon entering the main stadium, Ash looked around in wonder at the sheer amount of people the stadium could hold. As far as he could tell, the stadium stands were packed to the very limit with people, buzzing with excitement over the events that had occurred over the past fortnight.

Soon after entering the arena, Ash separated from his two friends as they each went to their designated areas. With Ash being a participant of the tournament this year, he would have to go the floor of the arena where he would join the other combatants that also partook in the Sinnoh League.

Whilst he would go to the stadium floor, Brock and Dawn went to the area in the stands reserved for the friends and family members of those who battled in the conference. Ash would've invited his mom and Professor Oak to join his travelling companions, but she had respectfully declined, saying she was fine where she was.

Looking across the sea of trainers, Ash saw a few familiar faces mixed within the crowd. Near the back, he saw Conway typing away on his laptop, his glasses glowing white as he whittled away on his keyboard furiously. Ash didn't know what he was doing, but he wasn't bothered to find out; it wasn't his business after all.

Mingled amongst those in the middle of the pack, he saw both Nando and Barry in what seemed like a one sided heated argument, with Barry ferociously trying to explain something to the calm and collected trainer/coordinator by his side. Further away from them, near the edge of the crowd, Ash saw Paul standing stoically, impassively staring at he raised platform as he waited for closing ceremony to end.

At the front of the crowd of trainers, he saw Tobias sanding proud. 'Of course he'd be there,' Ash thought. Being at the front would make it the ideal spot for him to be, seeing as he was the champion of this year's conference after all.

After pondering where he would go, he decided to go near the front, situating himself to the front half of the crowd of trainers. Standing amongst the throng of trainers, Ash reflected over how well his journey had gone.

In the past five years, he had slowly improved and had gotten stronger; judging by how his placement in each regional tournament went higher as years went by. Besides counting all the minor tournaments he joined, the best he'd ever done was his win in the unofficial Orange Island league, beating Drake and being declared the champion of the range Islands.

Judging by the rate of his growth, he would probably win a major league tournament in another two or three years, but to Ash, that was too long. Being crowned the champion of a regional tournament by the time he was eighteen wasn't a bad thing to say the least, but seeing as Cynthia was the crowned the youngest Pokémon region Champion at around the same age, the achievement of winning a mere tournament didn't look as grandeur when there were trainers of a higher calibre of the same age.

In his mind, he knew that winning a regional tournament was going to have to be the first step towards his goal of being a Pokémon Master. His lifelong goal of achieving the rank of Pokémon Master was only feasible if he could prove he had what it takes to be one of the best trainers in the world, and winning a major league tournament was just the stepping-stone he needed.

"-a hand to this year's Sinnoh League Champion, Tobias!" the announcer cried out. Breaking of his stupor, Ash looked around him and realised how much time had passed. While lost in his thoughts, he had missed out on most of the closing ceremony, thinking about his future.

Up on the stage, Ash saw Tobias heading towards Mr. Goodshow and Cynthia, the president of the Pokémon League and the region Champion respectively. With a word from both of the important guests, Tobias received his trophy, a memento honouring his win in this year's conference.

As one, the crowd stood and clapped, congratulating the winner of this year's tournament for his victory. Standing on centre stage, Tobias bathed in the excitement and exaltation that came from the crowd, enjoying his time in the spotlight as he greeted and acknowledged the crowd.

"And now, we bring down the curtain of another exciting Sinnoh League." the announcer said, his voice blaring through the speakers as it resounded through the arena. With a loud bang, chains of fireworks were launched into the clear night sky; bathing the stadium with light as more and more fireworks filled the air.

Ash smiled, enjoying the festive end to yet another adventure. Winning a place in the Top 4 was a big achievement for him, showing how much he had improved. Challenging the Sinnoh League with his strongest team he had so far were telling results to his dedication and skill as a trainer. Hopefully his journey here on out would only go up hill from here.

"So, as the Sinnoh League Flame quietly extinguishes, we celebrate the remarkable efforts of all or trainers."

Looking across the stadium floor, all eyes faced the giant bowl that was lit with Moltres' flame. Ever so slowly, the roaring fire reduced in size, steadily dying out as the ceremony drew to a close. As the passing of the torch and lighting the fire marked the beginning, the dying flames marked the end.

In a way, Ash realised this custom was quite poetic in its own way, with the fire representing multiple things – the cycle of life and death, the beginning and end of a journey or even the passing of time. Whatever it may be, to Ash, the flame used in these tournaments were always special to him, considering the history he shared.

With one last cheer, this year's Sinnoh League had come to an end.

* * *

From the balcony of his room in the Pokémon Village, Ash gazed into the night's sky. Though it was their final night in the rented room as the tournament had come to a close a couple hours a go, but Ash couldn't sleep. No matter how hard he had tried, sleep eluded the young teen. Taking it as a sign, Ash used his time recalling his major achievements he had whilst he was a trainer.

Thinking back, Ash knew he had done well in most of his bouts, considering his age. Having gone through the three major league tournaments from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn, he had his fair share of rivals from said events. Each year he had progressively gotten better, improving as the skills of his opponents increased alongside his experience as a trainer.

Though the chance was slim to none, Ash supposed there was always the chance of facing a trainer of Tobias' calibre, no matter how hard he thought about it. No matter how strong one gets, there would always be someone stronger. That was a lesson Ash had experienced the hard way during his journey as a trainer, a constant uphill battle to the top.

"Couldn't sleep?" a voice asked, breaking the permeating silence of the night.

Turning around, Ash saw his long time friend and travelling partner. Ash shook his head. "Nah… I guess it still hasn't sank in that it's all over now."

"You did well this year. It's too bad you faced an opponent like Tobias in the semi-finals. To be honest, if he wasn't there, I was pretty sure you would've won this one." Brock smiled, knowing exactly what was bothering his young friend.

A comfortable silence fell upon the duo as the raven-haired teen thought about what Brock said.

After a moment, Ash broke the silence. "Hey Brock, do you think I'm a selfish trainer?"

"What brought this around?" Brock asked, seemingly puzzled over Ash's question.

"It was something Tobias said to me," Ash explained. "He made me think about what I do whenever I go to another region. Usually, I start over and train up another team of pokemon. However by doing so, I neglect my older pokemon. Is it selfish of to want to once again experience the feeling of starting my journey for the first time?"

Brock took his time as he considered the question. Having had travelled with Ash for quite a few years now, he knew when something deeply bothered him and this was one of those times. To have his whole way of training being questioned, Brock knew that Ash needed some reassurance that his method of training was fine.

To be perfectly honest, Brock never really paid too much attention to the way Ash trained. Every trainer had their own way of doing things and Ash was no exception. There was also the fact that other trainers also did this – starting a new team when they go to another region, so Brock hadn't given it a second thought.

"Well," Brock began. "I wouldn't exactly call you selfish. Sure, you could've spent more time training some of your older pokemon besides Pikachu, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Look at this year's results, scoring in the Top 4 just goes to show how much you've grown since we first met, with or without training your older pokemon consistently."

"But that took nearly five years," Ash retorted. "I didn't even win this year's league. I bet in the same amount of time, Cynthia-"

"Not all us can be as good as Cynthia or Lance, Ash," Brock cut in. "Every trainer grows and develops at their own speed, it's what makes us all different. We all can't be geniuses at pokemon."

"Guess you're right," Ash admitted with a sigh. "No use complaining over something I can't change."

Like many trainers, he aspired to be the best, and who better to look up to than the strongest trainers in each region? However, comparing ones rate of progress to that of said champions was a foolish decision, as it would only serve to discourage trainers from continuously improving themselves.

"Hey, don't beat yourself over something that you could easily change," Brock stated. "With a little more effort, who knows how far you'll go, you're already a great trainer."

"Thanks Brock," Ash smiled. "You're the best. I'm glad that I have a great friend like you to count on."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Brock remarked. "Now come on, get some sleep. We have to wake up bright and early if we're going to catch the first ferry back to Twinleaf."

'Yeah, back to Twinleaf Town' Ash thought. Like he had done in previous regions, it seemed like it was fate for him to end his journey in the same place he started it. However, Ash wasn't sure he was quite finished with the Sinnoh region.

* * *

"You know, it felt like something was missing in this year's conference." Ash thought aloud.

Walking down the main street of the Pokémon Village, Ash and his friends left the room they were given for the duration of the conference for the last time. Following the long stream of trainers, Ash, Brock and Dawn made their way to the docks of the Lily of the Valley Island, hoping to catch the next available ferry back to the mainland.

"What are you talking about?" Dawn questioned. The whole conference felt complete – from the beginning to the end, so she was quite confused over what her mentor was feeling.

"I agree." Brock nodded, pondering over what made this tournament different from the past ones. Sure, each region conducted their tournaments in their own way, giving a unique feel, but it felt like something was missing.

The trio thought long and hard, trying to rationalise the incomplete feeling Ash and Brock had over the tournament.

"Ah!" Ash exclaimed, breaking the silence between the three heroes. Pounding his fist into his open palm, Ash smiled. "No Team Rocket!"

Hearing Ash's answer, Brock nodded in agreement. However, the answer only made Dawn even more confused. Sure, they encountered Team Rocket numerous times on their journey, but their presence, or lack thereof, in a tournament wasn't that big of a deal. Voicing out her thoughts to her male companions, Ash turned to Brock to give her the explanation.

"For the past three conferences, Team Rocket pulled one of their usual schemes during some part of the League – be it at the start, the end or somewhere in between. In every single one of these events, Ash or the champion of the tournament foiled their plans. I guess since it didn't happen this year, Ash feels like he missed out in blasting them off in front of a huge crowd."

"You enjoyed doing that Ash?" Dawn gasped exaggeratedly. "Who knew that all this time you secretly loved beating up Team Rocket? It's like I don't even know you anymore."

"Ha ha, Very funny guys," Ash grumbled. "All I meant was that – oh never mind."

Seeing their sulking companion, Brock and Dawn shared a small laugh. By the time they finished having their fun, the group had made it to the main port of the island, with several boats lined up to take passengers to various locations. All across the port were men and women of various ages, going to their respective ships in order to make their home.

"Come on guys!" Dawn called out. "The boat to Twinleaf Town is this way!"

"I guess this is where we go our separate ways." Just as she started to move towards the correct direction, the remark from Ash stopped her dead in her tracks.

Turning around to face him, Dawn saw the grim face on the usually carefree trainer. Next to him, Brock stood impassively, giving away nothing to Dawn as she tried to process what Ash said.

"What do you mean Ash? I thought we were going to all stop by Twinleaf before going our separate ways." Dawn asked quizzically.

"Last night, I decided that to stay here in Sinnoh a bit longer before heading back to Kanto. After my battle with both Paul and Tobias, I realised there's still room for me to improve." Ash replied.

When the words finally registered within Dawn's mind, she realised that the last few moments she would get to spend time with her companions would come to a close sooner than expected.

Turning to Brock, Dawn asked, "Did you know about this?"

"I had a hunch he would do something like this," Brock admitted. "To be honest, I was surprised it took him this long to have a personal training trip. A lot of trainers take a couple months off to train by themselves. It helps the trainer and their pokemon grow stronger and form closer bonds."

Ash nodded in agreement. "Like Brock said. I'm going to use this time to grow stronger as a trainer so that next time, it'll be a lot harder to beat me."

"So I guess this is goodbye," Dawn murmured quietly. Though she knew this day would eventually come, Dawn still couldn't hold in all her emotions as the three of them stood together for what seemed to be the last time.

Spending over a year's worth of time with the same people everyday would obviously bring those people together. Her first year as a trainer was in the company of the two males in front of her. Most of her knowledge of pokemon came from them, observing and learning the ropes of the pokemon trade from the advice she received and battles she was fortunate to witness. Even the battle style she used in contests came from what she learnt from them, it was the style that let her earn second place in her first Grand Festival.

"Are you alright Dawn? I know I'm leaving earlier than planned, but I didn't mean to make you cry." Ash said worriedly. Seeing Dawn just standing there quietly unnerved Ash slightly, as it differed from her usual bubbly and optimistic self.

"Besides," Brock added, "Since he'll be staying here in Sinnoh, who knows? You might see him around."

"You're right…" Dawn nodded. "Besides, it's not like he's going to drop everything and isolate himself from all of society forever, living in solitude at the top of a mountain as he waits to battle trainers who prove their worth by climbing to the peak."

"I'm pretty sure its just going to be a couple months," Ash chuckled. "Who knows, maybe I'll pop down Twinleaf Town to see you once I'm finished."

"That'll be nice," Dawn smiled. Looking down at her Poketch, Dawn's eyes widened as she realised how much time had passed. "Brock! Our ferry's due to leave in a few minutes, we gotta go!"

Lifting up her hand in the air, Dawn rushed towards Ash. Seeing the action, Ash smiled and lifted his hand in turn. As the distance closed between them, the two teens exchanged their special hi-five, with both knowing it would probably be their last.

"Bye Ash, stay safe will ya?" Dawn asked, giving her friend a final hug.

With a final hug and a handshake from Dawn and Brock respectively, Ash saw his two companions dashed off into the distance, racing towards the docks while giving one final wave to him.

* * *

As he waved back at them, Ash knew that his solo journey was about to begin – he just needed to figure out where he was going to start. Throughout his journey in Sinnoh, he had come across multiple places with potential to be a good training ground – Iron Island, Route 217 and Mount Coronet to name a few. Like everything in life, these places all had a downside to them.

What Ash was looking for was a place with a wide variety of pokemon to battle, as well as the possibility of battling other trainers. No matter how he thought about it, the only way he could possibly achieve this desired training ground was to go to multiple places, rotating locations in order to maximise the use of the area during his stay.

However, if he was going to be training in multiple locations, he should probably get a pokemon to fly him to and from different areas. Immediately, a single pokemon fit for the job popped into his mind. Ash smiled, knowing that it was time to gather all his pokemon once more. The one issue left for Ash to deal with was deciding the first place to train.

"Ash!" a voice from behind him called, breaking Ash's train of thought.

Spinning around to face the person calling him, Ash was surprised to see the Cynthia slowly making her way towards him.

"Cynthia! It's great to see you again. I'm surprised you're still here." Ash said as he walked towards the champion, meeting her halfway.

"I had some business to finish up with Mr. Goodshow," Cynthia replied. Looking around, she was surprised to see Ash by himself, seeing as all her previous encounters he was accompanied by his two companions. "Where are your two friends, Brock and Dawn?"

Scratching the back of his head, Ash gave her a smile. "They left to go to Twinleaf Town. I decided to stay back to go on a training trip on my own."

"Oh," Cynthia raised an eyebrow, "Well good for you. There are many great spots in Sinnoh where you can train. Do you already have a place in mind?"

"The main places that come to mind are the Iron Islands and Mount Coronet. However I'm not sure which one. To be honest, I'll probably go in between those two and also a couple of routes for a variety of pokemon and trainers to face." Ash replied. Turning to the Champion, Ash asked, "Do you have any place you suggest I go?"

"Come to think about it, I might just have the place." Cynthia answered after giving the question some thought, "Your placement in this year's tournament officially allows you in."

"What does me being in the Top 4 have anything to do with my training?" Ash asked, slightly confused over what the Champion was saying.

Cynthia smiled. "There's an island off to the north east of Sinnoh that is home to some really high levelled pokemon. With a variety of different terrains available, hundreds of different pokemon breeds could be found within the same vicinity. Furthermore, all the trainers there are quite skilled and experienced. However-"

"Wow!" Ash interrupted. "Why haven't I heard of this place before? It sounds like it would've have been the perfect place for me to train before the Sinnoh League!"

Cynthia shook her head at the young teens excitement. "The reason why you probably haven't heard of it is because only a select few can go onto the island. Only those who placed well in a regional tournament or those that have received a recommendation from an official of the Pokémon League can go."

"So _that's_ why being in the Top 4 mattered." Ash muttered, realising just how hard it would be to go there. "Why such harsh restrictions? Wouldn't it be better if it was open to everyone, so that people can grow stronger?"

"You're right Ash," Cynthia nodded, "Opening the island to the public could do wonders to the overall skill level of trainers in Sinnoh. To tell you the truth, a few years ago it was just like that. However, the League had to implement the skill restriction due to the amount of trainers being injured and dying whilst training in over there."

Ash's eyes widened. Sure, the chance of dying whilst on a pokemon journey was always a reality that trainers had to accept from day one, but he hadn't given it much thought. In fact, for a trainer to die whilst on his or her journey wasn't completely unheard of. However, to hear that the rate of death and injury there was so high they had to limit all those who went there to trainers with loads of experience showed Ash just how dangerous the place was.

Seeing realisation dawn on Ash's face on just how dangerous the place was, Cynthia wondered whether or not Ash was willing to try and train there. Voicing out her inquiry, she saw Ash nodding, his resolve to go clearly depicted on his face.

"Well then, let's head to Battle Zone!"

* * *

The trip to Battle Zone was quite an uneventful one. To Ash, the boat ride there seemed to have only lasted for a second, as throughout the trip, Ash had the chance to ask a Champion for advice that she was happy to give. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for any trainer, so Ash took full advantage of time.

Cynthia commended Ash for his philosophy in training, in that Pokémon are individuals and that a combination of trust, friendship and hard work are needed to overcome adversity. She had greatly enjoyed his battle with Paul, as it was not only a battle between rivals, it was also a battle over philosophy. It seemed that Cynthia shared the same belief that he had – that a trainer needs both a mix of hard work and trust in order for a pokemon to be truly strong.

In terms of his battling style, Cynthia noted his preference ones that are speedy and manoeuvrable, yet able to perform high-powered attacks. She noted how well he was able to work with Swellow, Pikachu and Sceptile in his match with Tobias, but also pointed out how Heracross, Torkoal and Gible didn't battle as well as they could due to their inability to perform his usual tactics.

She had suggested to Ash to use some time of his training to gain a better understanding of how each individual pokemon fights and utilise it to their full potential. Ash took the suggestion to heart, knowing that he had a couple of pokemon that he hadn't used in a while that would benefit from this.

Besides tips in improving his ability to fight, Cynthia also gave Ash some tips to travelling alone. Though he would only be restricted to the island, knowing how to survive on your own was an important skill for any trainer to have. When listening to Cynthia, Ash never realised just how much he relied on Brock in his journey. After taking heed of Cynthia's advice, Ash added survival skills to his list of areas he would deal with during his trip.

Excluding all the advice Cynthia gave to Ash, she had also described to Ash various aspects he should know about Battle Zone. For one thing, there were three main areas that pokemon trainers stayed at – the Fight Area, Survival Area and Resort Area.

The Fight Area was a town in the southwest of the island. This area sported the majority of trainers, as there were always people looking for a battle waiting there. The town was home to the Battle Park, a park that sported multiple fields of various shapes and sizes. From ordinary fields to ice fields, the whole town was designed to support multiple trainers fighting simultaneously.

An interesting aspect of participating in the Battle Park was the ranking system. Each trainer began with 1500 points, with points added or subtracted from their total score based on the results of their match. The system allowed trainers to roughly gauge the level of their opponents more easily. In this way, trainers could battle people closer to their level for a more even match or allowed them to find stronger opponents easier if they wished to challenge themselves.

The next major town was the Survival Area. In this area, trainers gather to work out and hone their battling skills. The Survival Area was the designated place on Battle Zone for trainers to work on their pokemon. The surrounding routes held quite a variety of pokemon. This way, developing one's skill was made easier for pokemon with the abundance of different wild pokemon to train against.

The last area was the Resort Area. This location was more of a rest and relaxation area for trainers. There were rooms a trainer could rent and sleep at there if they were tired of camping out. Not only were there various hotels a trainer could stay, the Resort Area offered various attractions for trainers.

The last major place in Battle Zone was Stark Mountain, the final frontier of the Sinnoh Region. Stark Mountain was one of the most dangerous places on the island and for good reason. Most of the pokemon that live there were much stronger than those on the routes surrounding it. Stark Mountain could be considered the leading cause to most of the reported injuries trainer's had received whilst on the island.

Not only were the pokemon stronger, the terrain was also precarious. Though classified as a mountain, Stark Mountain shared some characteristics of an active volcano, including the production of magma. The road to the base of mountain contains multiple 'lava lakes', making it dangerous to travel whilst trying to battle the native pokemon. Ash hoped by the end of his small training trip, he would be strong enough to at least enter the foreboding mountain.

Turning his attention back to the real world, Ash saw that the boat was docking at the Fight Area pier. Readying himself for the challenge of a lifetime, Ash turned to the Champion as she gathered up her stuff to disembark.

"This is as far as I can stay with you," Cynthia said, addressing Ash as he prepared to land. "I have a meeting with one of the Frontier Brains to discuss his challenge against me for my title."

"Its no problem Cynthia. You've done enough already just by bringing me here." Ash beamed. Before the boat even came to a stop, Cynthia released her famed Garchomp. With a final wave of goodbye, Cynthia took off, flying towards one of the taller towers sticking out in the distance.

Turning back to face the island, Ash smiled, dreading and anticipating the possible challenges that await him in the Battle Zone.

* * *

**Hey guys, SpeculativeWriter here. I want to thank all you guys for the support I got from the last chapter.**

**To give some idea where I'm going with the story, Ash will go to Unova and catch new pokemon as always, but he's also going to rotate some of his older pokemon into the party.**

**Another change I'm going to make that'll steer away from canon is that I'll be somewhat adapting the storyline to situate the story between the events of Black/White and Black2/White2… hopefully this pays off.**

**With the issue of the possibility of Ash getting a legendary, its up in the air as of right now. What do you guys think? If Ash got one, what do you guys reckon it would be? If you have any suggestion, feel free to leave it… leaving a reason why he should as it might persuade me to give him one.**

**Next chapter will be a time skip to the end of Ash's training trip.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**1) Trainers participating in regional tournaments are given rooms in a designated section for trainers, allowing them their own personal space to train and strategize without worrying about not having a room to stay in for the duration of the tournament.**

**2) Battle Zone is the official name given by Pokemon to the separated island to the north east of Sinnoh in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. It's not referred to as 'Battle Zone Island' but simply the 'Battle Zone'. Weird, huh?**

**3) Ash's stated philosophy and preferred battled style as written in this story comes from Ash's profile as stated in Bulbapedia**

**4) I decided to incorporate the Ranking System from online battling. Thought it would suit the theme of Battle Zone, having a system to see who's the best on the island.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The midday sun beat heavily down on Ash as he slowly made his way through the treacherous terrain. Looking up, Ash saw the looming figure of Stark Mountain steadily increase in size, as the distance between the two shortened with each step. This was his final test, the final frontier of his extended training trip. All the time he had spent in training and building stronger bonds with his pokemon was going to be put to the test to see how much he had grown during the last few months here in Sinnoh.

It had been almost four months since the Sinnoh League had come to a close. During that time, Ash had spent all of it in the Battle Zone; reacquainting himself with all of his pokemon. Even though Cynthia had given him a fair warning him before going there, Ash was still blown away by how strong both the trainers and the pokemon that resided on the exclusive island were.

Thinking back, Ash was surprised how well his mother took the news of his decision to stay back. She didn't seem to mind his choice of taking another few months to train alone – as long as he remembered to remain in contact with her so she would know that he was still alive and well. That condition set by his mom wasn't really going to be a problem for Ash, as he knew he would be constantly contacting Professor Oak in order to rotate through all of his pokemon. Spending a couple of minutes after that just to talk with his mom wasn't going to be a big deal for him.

During his training trip, Ash had only one goal in his mind that he wished to accomplish – to get all his pokemon back into tiptop shape and learn how to utilise each and every one of them to their fullest potential. He had even taken the time to contact Anthony, Liza and Officer Jenny in order to reacquaint himself with Primeape, Charizard and Squirtle – each one of them had been undergoing special training under the aforementioned trainers. Though having specialised training with other trainers was beneficial to their growth, Ash knew it would be useless if he weren't able to use them to their full potential due to not knowing his pokemon.

Though Ash had ideally wished to gather all of his pokemon together and have one massive training session together, he knew that the possibility of such event wasn't realistic. For one, the league had implemented a 'six pokemon only' limit for every trainer, no matter if they were just beginner or a champion.

Ash never really thought about the possible reasons why they had the rule in place, but he figured it there to make it easier for trainers to train and control their pokemon. With a smaller group, it allowed the trainers more time to focus on each individual pokemon, without unintentionally neglecting another. Thinking about it now, Ash shuddered over the idea of controlling his horde of Tauros whilst training his thirty or so other pokemon. The amount of chaos that would inevitably occur between his rampaging Tauros and the intense training of other pokemon was too much for Ash to bear to think about – especially if Pokémon League hypothetically forced him to pay for all the damage his pokemon may cause.

For the past three and a half months, Ash had slowly circulated through all of his pokemon, spending time training and battling with them. The amount of time spent on each pokemon varied, as each one of them seemed to be at different stages of physical fitness and battle readiness.

For his older pokemon from Kanto and Johto, Ash focused more on getting them back into shape. Even though they hadn't battled in such a long time, it seemed that the skills they had developed years prior were still there, and just needed a little polishing up. It was actually surprising to Ash to see some of the moves his pokemon had learnt all on their own whilst he was away on his journey, as he would have never thought that some of them were willing to go above and beyond the need to remain in shape. Then again, all his pokemon were as awesome as their trainer, so their self-imposed training shouldn't have had surprised him.

With his newer pokemon from Hoenn and Sinnoh, Ash had to increase their battle experience – somewhat the opposite of his older pokemon. His teams from the last two regions had grown stronger in a shorter amount of time due to the fact he was a more experienced trainer, as the knowledge to develop their skills faster came with experience. So while they might have the power to pack quite the punch, the pokemon were younger and needed experience in battle to take full advantage of said power. Building up their experience in battle and honing their instincts was the main area that Ash was going to focus on with these pokemon.

Having such a variety of levels of experience amongst all his pokemon, Ash was in for the time of his life as he tried to train all of them to have a reasonable balance between power and experience. One of his downfalls in his fight with Tobias was bringing pokemon without this balance against a trainer known to use a legendary pokemon. Sure, Gible had the firepower with his newly learnt Draco Meteor, but he lacked the experience to take full advantage of said power. Furthermore, though Torkoal was an experienced battler and strong in its own right, it lacked the firepower need to take on an experienced legendary. By making sure most if not all his pokemon had a reasonable balance between power and experience, Ash could theoretically use any of his pokemon without the threat of weakness being the downfall in battle.

One benefit to having such a variety of pokemon was that it helped build his knowledge of training pokemon. For example, after years of training and adventuring, it was easier for him to teach his newer pokemon moves that his older pokemon already knew. This in turn made training pokemon that shared common attributes or the same typing to others much easier to train and develop.

In his mind, Ash knew that the time he spent in the Battle Zone paid off when it came to developing his skills as a trainer.

Though getting his pokemon back into shape was one of the goals of his training trip, Ash also wished to learn how to use each of his pokemon in the most ideal way. Ash knew the best way to do this in the shortest amount of time, was through experience on a battlefield. After all, it wasn't like he was able to talk to his pokemon like Anabel to find out how they liked to battle.

His approach to learning the best way to utilise his pokemon may have affected his rank on the island, but the experience he gained from the battles more than made up for it. His initial score of 1500 did not change much, as he had won and lost his fair share of matches, not that Ash cared much about it. Even though he faced trainers of roughly the same level, Ash learned a lot from the battles he was in, as well as the small bits of advice he gained from his opponents after a match.

Due to all his time training and battling others over the past three and a half months, Ash had developed his skills and knowledge as a trainer far greater than he had anticipated, something he was quite pleased about. This growth as a trainer led to Ash's decision to tackle the last obstacle of the Battle Zone – Stark Mountain.

Here, Ash knew that he would be able to push his skills to further heights, as the mountain would be the best way for him to judge how well his time spent in Sinnoh affected his skills as a trainer. Stark Mountain would not only challenge the physical and mental wellbeing of his pokemon, but also that of the trainers. Due to how treacherous the terrain was as well as the pokemon living there, Ash knew that trainers that wished to train on Stark Mountain had to be physically fit for the journey as well as mentally prepared for anything to happen at any given time.

Turning his attention back to the path in front of him, Ash let out a sigh as he continued his trek up the volcanic mountainside. Even though Stark Mountain and the routes around it were classified as highly dangerous areas, Ash was surprised at the lack of pokemon he had encountered so far. Though he wasn't expecting to be filled with pokemon like Viridian Forest, he did expect to see more than just a herd of Rapidash and Ponyta or the occasional Graveler here and there.

Thinking back at it now, Ash wasn't sure if he should take this as a good or a bad sign. Sure, having no wild pokemon bothering you whilst you make your way to one of the most dangerous mountains in Sinnoh could be considered quite beneficial – then again, it could be the worse thing that could happen to you. Having no pokemon bothering you could cause a trainer to let their guard down leading to the possibility of being injured due to their lack of awareness.

The mountain route was surprisingly quiet, with only the faintest sounds present that would indicate that he wasn't alone on the road. Deciding not to take any chances, Ash looked around cautiously as he slowly drew closer to the base of the mountain. Taking into account the scarcity of the wild pokemon in one of the considerably dangerous routes on the island, Ash could only assume the worst.

By acknowledging the possible presence of a wild and dangerous pokemon within the close vicinity, Ash immediately began to move when a deafening roar reverberated throughout the mountain range. As he ran to find a suitably safe spot, Ash reached down towards his belt, grabbing the nearest pokeball just in case things turned ugly.

Rushing towards a wide open clearing, Ash turned around and faced the previously unknown foe, pokeball in hand just in case it was too tough for Pikachu to deal with. With a resounding crash, a larger-than-average Rhyperior barged its way through the remaining rocks and trees on the route as it made its way towards the young teen.

"Snorlax, I choose you!" Ash yelled as he released the sleeping pokemon. Ash gritted his teeth in anticipation, as he knew that none of his other pokemon he had on hand had the strength necessary to match, let alone defeat a battle crazed Rhyperior. The upcoming battle was going to be a power battle between the two beasts; a titanic battle that Ash wasn't one hundred percent certain he could win.

Even before he had landed outside his pokeball, Snorlax was awake and battle ready. For the past few months, Ash had been conditioning his pokemon to be awake for a battle, and it seemed to have paid off. However, the downside of spending so much time conditioning Snorlax to be awake and ready for all his future matches, Ash never really had the chance to teach Snorlax a lot of new moves, limiting him his movepool to mainly what he already knew before the training trip.

No sooner had his foe appeared before him, Rhyperior released a giant Rock Wrecker – its signature move. Even as he had shot off his first attack, the Rhyperior was preparing another straight away. Placing his arms close to his chest, a compressed ball of rock and dirt appeared before quickly flying off towards the fat pokemon.

As the multiple rock projectiles raced towards Ash's pokemon, Snorlax reared its head back and fired off a giant Hyper Beam. The yellow-orange beam blasted through the Rock Wreckers, eviscerating them into nothingness as it closed the gap between the two pokemon.

The Hyper Beam collided into the sturdy rock type; the force behind the attack was great enough to cause the pokemon to stumble back. Before the Rhyperior regained its bearings, Snorlax had already launched itself across the field as he planned to crush his enemy under his full weight.

Moving faster than Ash had expected, Snorlax closed the gap within seconds before slamming the full force of his body into Rhyperior. Unfortunately for him, the Rhyperior had recovered just in time to block the Body Slam, taking on the attack with ease. Now shoulder-to-shoulder, the two powerhouse pokemon were locked in a battle for dominance, both parties using their full weight to push the other off. Neither side gave way to the other as both Snorlax and Rhyperior gave it their all.

"Snorlax, lean back a little then use Ice Punch!"

Hearing the command from his trainer, Snorlax grunted and backed off. The sudden movement of stepping away from the deadlock caused the Rhyperior to fall forward, right into Snorlax's ice covered fist. Without missing a beat, Snorlax followed the successful hit with a Hyper Beam at point blank range, as any damage dealt against his opponent was crucial.

Snorlax moved back towards his trainer as the smoke from his last attack started to dissipate, never turning his back away from where his foe resided. He knew that the last attack wasn't enough to completely knock out his opponent, so he had put some distance between the two so he wouldn't be caught off guard by a surprise attack that the smoke obscured.

As the dust settled, Ash and Snorlax saw the Rhyperior standing upright, seemingly unfazed by Snorlax's latest attempt. Sure there were obvious signs of battle, but it didn't seem to have affected him as much as Ash had hoped.

With a roar, Rhyperior slammed his hands on the ground, causing jagged pillars of stone to sprout as the attack raced towards Ash. In no time at all, Rhyperior's Stone Edge reached its target, launching Snorlax into the air as a pillar emerged from underneath his feet. A triumphant roar arose from the wild pokemon, believing it had won as his foe came crashing down, laying prone on the other side of the battlefield.

"Snorlax, are you okay?" Ash asked worriedly. Ash watched as Snorlax slowly got up from his fetal position on the floor and stood ready to continue fighting, even though there were obvious signs that he was affected by the damage caused by Stone Edge and the subsequent fall from the sky.

A low growl emanated from Rhyperior as Snorlax got up and was raring to go. Crouching low, Rhyperior elongated his horn, making it grow three times its usual size. As soon as his Megahorn fully formed, Rhyperior charged towards his opponent, hoping to pierce through his foes stomach.

Seeing the wild pokemon racing towards him, Snorlax braced himself for yet another clash between the two. In a blink of an eye, pale blue light became to emanate around his fists, preparing to once again smash Rhyperior's face in with the super effective Ice Punch.

As Rhyperior drew closer to Snorlax, the Drill Pokemon leaped as it aimed to stab his foe. Just when the Megahorn was about to land a harsh blow on Snorlax, the normal type ducked slightly before uppercutting his opponent, causing the Megahorn to go off course. Following his initial attack, Snorlax unleashed a flurry of punches on his foe, bearing down the full force of his might. Each and every one of his punches slowly forced his foe back, the force of each attack as strong as the last. With one final Ice Punch, Snorlax spun around and used a Mega Kick to send the wild Rhyperior flying across the field, making some distance between the two as Snorlax tried to recover from the strain of his last combo.

Whilst watching the events of the battle unfold, an involuntary smirk graced Ash's mouth. The clash between Snorlax and Rhyperior was exactly what he had expected to face when he decided to challenge the pokemon living on Stark Mountain. The strength to match a fully trained pokemon just by living in the wild was proof that this area was a breeding ground for strong opponents, opponents that would push Ash and his team to their limits.

At the sound of something spinning rapidly, Ash turned his attention back towards the battlefield. It seemed like the Rhyperior was going for broke, as he charged at Snorlax with a Horn Drill – a one-hit KO move. Seeing as the Rhyperior was going all out, Ash thought it would only be fair if his pokemon did as well.

"Snorlax, let's end this! Giga Impact!"

With a loud cry, Snorlax began to charge at his foe as well, slowly picking speed as the distance between the two became smaller by the second. As he ran, purple energy engulfed the massive frame of the Sleeping Pokemon as Giga Impact went into full effect. The air was filled with one last shout from both sides as the two titanic pokemon crashed into one another, a deafening explosion rocked the mountainside from the resulting collision.

An unwitting smile slowly graced Ash's face as he watched the two titans clash, knowing that this would be the first of many battles of this magnitude that would follow over the next couple of days. After all, how could he resist a challenge?

* * *

"You've seem to be progressing well Ash," Professor Oak commented. "I've noticed quite an improvement in some of your pokemon whenever you send them back."

"Thanks Professor," Ash smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "But I can't take all the credit. It was thanks to all their efforts that they improved as much as they have – isn't that right Pikachu?"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu piped in agreement.

"Well, I'm glad you made it back safe from Stark Mountain. Your mother was quite worried over the past week when you informed us of your decision to go there."

"I'll be sure to call her to let her that I'm safe." Ash noted aloud. Even though Ash knew his mom was fine with his decision to be a pokemon trainer by the time he was ten, he knew she always worried about his safety whenever he went on a journey.

It had been a little over a week since he had first decided to journey up Stark Mountain. After his initial battle with the wild Rhyperior, Ash had continued his journey up towards the mountain; facing wild pokemon were equally if not harder in terms of strength. For the next ten days Ash camped out by Stark Mountain, training the team he had chosen for the journey by battling one another and the native wild pokemon that lived nearby.

Though the pokemon living on Stark Mountain were mainly limited to Rock, Ground, Fighting and Fire types, it didn't mean that the opponents they battled weren't strong. In fact, Ash knew from experience that Ground, Fighting and Fire type pokemon were some of the more offensive and aggressive types of pokemon, so battling them gave his pokemon a ton of fighting experience.

"So," Professor Oak began, breaking Ash out of his thoughts. "Will you head back up to Stark Mountain to continue your training?"

"I'm not sure… to tell you the truth, I think I've achieved all I could on my own whilst on this island. I think it's high time I head back now," Ash confessed. "I know four months isn't much, but I want to go back on my journey."

"Really?" Oak raised an eyebrow. "Well, you've never been one to stay in one place for so long. Ever since you started your journey as a trainer, you've been on the move every single day – you must be itching to go back on your travels."

"I guess you know me too well Professor." Ash laughed.

"Have you already made plans of where you're going?" Professor Oak questioned.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure yet. I'll probably go back to Johto or Hoenn before heading back to Kanto. There's nowhere else I can think of that I haven't gone to yet." Ash replied.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Ash knew he had done more than his fair share of travelling during the six years he had been a trainer. One downside of essentially starting a new journey every year was the inevitability of running out of known places to travel to. Ash knew that sooner or later he would be journeying through the same regions over again, but he didn't mind.

Even though going through regions he had already traversed through was still exciting, Ash knew that it would lack that feeling of going through unknown territory for the first time. Sure, there were many places Ash didn't get to go to when he first went through the region, but those hidden gems found in the nooks and crannies of a region didn't really measure up to a whole new continent in his mind.

"Well if you want someplace new, you could always travel to Unova."

"Unova?" Ash echoed. It was the first time he heard of the place, so it was understandable that Ash was caught by surprise at the news of yet another unknown region.

"I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of it Ash. It's quite the distance away from all the other regions you've gone through. In fact, it's so far away that the pokemon that live there can't be found anywhere else and vice versa. Until recently, none of the pokemon found from Kanto to Sinnoh can be found in the wild there." Oak explained.

"What do you mean 'until recently'?" Ash asked. The thought of an unknown region with never-before-seen pokemon just sounded so appealing to Ash, he wanted to know as much as he could about this new region.

"Until last year, the pokemon that lived at Unova was exclusive to that region. Due to the location of Unova, the pokemon that were born and bred there developed differently. However, around a year ago, the Pokémon League alongside the leading professor of Unova conducted an experiment to see the effects unfamiliar pokemon would have on the natural flora and fauna of the region. They had introduced pokemon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh into the wild in different routes, and for the past few months they have observed their interactions with the wild pokemon in an unfamiliar region."

"Wow, that sounds so cool Professor. Do you know what happened with the experiment?" Ash inquired.

"Apparently its been going quite well," Oak replied. "According to my friend Professor Juniper, the experiment was a success. She had even invited myself and the other professors to visit Unova with a team to see how the experiment fared, giving us the chance to study and observe the pokemon there to see how their introduction into a foreign region may have affected their growth and development."

"You're going to Unova?" Ash asked hopefully. From what he gathered from their short conversation, Unova seemed to be quite the distance away from Kanto, far enough that he wouldn't be able to simply take a boat there. However if Professor Oak went, he may have found his way to that distant region.

"Well, not exactly," Oak responded. "Right now I don't have the time to go to Unova for an extended period to do the research on the effects Unova had on Kanto pokemon. However, though I won't be going myself, Gary's going to lead the Kanto team on a joint expedition in my place. He's going to lead the team of researchers and trainers from Kanto to meet up with my compatriots from Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh before heading there altogether."

"Trainers?" Ash wondered. "Why would you need trainers to accompany you on a research expedition?"

"Well, sometimes when researchers go into the field, there is a chance for unexpected events to occur. We bring some trainers with us to provide additional support just in case something bad might occur. However in this case, some trainers are accompanying us on the trip to see if there's any differences between pokemon found in their native region and those that aren't."

"This must really be a big deal for you professors if you guys are sending a team of researchers and trainers just to check out the results of this experiment." Ash remarked.

"It is indeed," Oak nodded. "Unova is one of the few regions in the world that is so isolated from the rest, so having pokemon introduced into the wild could have devastating consequences on the natural ecosystem. With it being a success in multiple locations with varying terrains, some researchers wish to see the effects it had on the pokemon.

Though the focus of said experiment does not exactly fall under my speciality of the interaction between pokemon and humans, the results could be useful for future studies to many researchers. As it is still early in the process, it is easier for scientists to see the prolonged effects of that the introduction of new species would have in a few years in comparison to the effects that were noted in the research made in the other regions who are significantly more accustomed to these type of pokemon."

"You're really making this place sound awesome Professor, wish I can go there one day." Ash thought aloud.

"Well Ash, it seems your wish may be coming sooner that you expected." Professor Oak commented.

"…What do you mean Professor?"

"Why do you think I brought up Unova in the first place? Consider it a gift from me for doing so well in the Lily of the Valley Conference, you represented Pallet and made us proud by making all the way into the semi-finals."

"Not to sound like I'm ungrateful or anything Professor, but I still lost. I hardly think it's an achievement worth awarding."

"Nonsense Ash," Professor Oak rebuked. "Placing in the semi-finals of any tournament can be considered an achievement, it could hardly be considered not worthy of recognition. Besides, the fact that you knew you could've done better and have made the steps to improve yourself just goes to show how ambitious and strong-willed you are."

"Thanks Professor," Ash smiled. "You know what, maybe I will go. After all, how can I say no to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit such a far off place like Unova? Is there anything I need to know or prepare for before I go there Professor?"

"Hmm…" Oak mumbled. "Well, first you'll have to head to Sunnyshore City. From there, you'll be able to catch a flight to Unova. In regards to other preparations, you should probably pack for colder climates. Though Unova is typically warm, it seems like a long lasting cold front has spread around the region, so its best that you prepare just in case."

Ash nodded. "Got it Professor."

"I know this might be an exhilarating and thrilling experience that I have no doubt you are keen for, but do try to stay out of trouble. After all, the trip there was supposed to be somewhat of a holiday for you."

"When have I ever gotten into trouble?" Ash humoured. "But yeah, I understand."

* * *

Looking out of the small window of the aircraft as it glided over the sapphire waters, Ash reminisced over the events that had occurred over the past few days after his talk with Professor Oak. As soon as he had finished talking with the Professor, Ash had rushed like a madman as he packed his things in order to make his way to the main port of Battle Zone, hoping to catch the next ferry back to the main island. The thought of a new region and what it held in store had filled Ash with excitement, so much so that he had made it to Sunnyshore City in record time.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. We have begun our descent to Nuvema Town airport, and we will be in the gate in about twenty minutes. We'd like the flight attendants to prepare the cabin for arrival and we want to thank you for flying with us today."

As the plane slowly made its descent into the Unova region, Ash bubbled in excitement. Though he only got a glimpse of the new region through the small window of the aircraft, Ash knew, he just knew, that this was the place he would win it all. He may know next to nothing about the region and who the reigning champion may be, but to Ash, it didn't matter. There may be no new pokemon there and the champion may be some senile old coot for all he cared, but nothing would stand in his way of total victory.

As he disembarked from the plane, Ash took in his first breath of Unova.

A region full of pokemon that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world was an exciting prospect for Ash, as the unknown land may truly provide new excitement for the veteran trainer. Even from the first glance, Ash had immediately seen three new species of pokemon he had never seen before. With a wide grin that could split his face in half, Ash ran across the docks of Nuvema Town, heading towards the small settlement.

Though he knew he had to meet up with Professor Juniper to begin the task set by Professor Oak, Ash spent some time looking at the wide variety of pokemon he had never seen. Without updating his pokedex, Ash could only speculate what type they were and what they could possibly do. Looking down, he saw a couple of small brown pokemon with wide eyes. Seeing how comfortable they seem to be around humans, as well as their relative size, Ash figured it was this region's equivalent to Rattata.

A small smile graced Ash's face as he watched the two critters dance by his feet as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder. The two small rodents seemed to look at the unfamiliar pokemon in confusion, before going back to their small game. Pikachu cried in delight before giving chase, following the other two pokemon as they raced around the general vicinity.

"You must be one of those pokemon fanatics that love every single pokemon or you're an outsider if you find Patrat's interesting." A female voice commented from behind him, breaking Ash out of his thoughts.

Turning around to see where the voice came from, Ash saw a girl around his age, staring at him in amusement.

"Yo," the teen greeted. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Ash Ketchum, would it?"

* * *

**A/N- Sorry for those who had already read the chapter, I forgot that line brakes don't carry over from a word document when you upload it to FFN- that's why the transitions may have seemed too unexpected. Sorry for the inconvenience. I didn't make any many major changes, just tried to make the story flow a bit better between scenes.**

**Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took a while to get this one out, but between university, troubles in life and writing and rewriting this chapter multiple times till I was satisfied... it took a lot longer to finish and post this than expected.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the battle between Snorlax and Rhyperior. I hope you liked my attempt at a different type of battle between pokemon – power vs. power. I tried to emphasise how strong the wild pokemon on Stark Mountain are by having a wild pokemon that can battle on equal terms with one of Ash's more experienced powerhouses.**

**I'm just wondering, do people read the author notes at the end? If not, I can just remove them if you want. If you read this and think it's just a waste of space, I can just cut these Author comments out or just shorten it. If not, I can continue giving those small tidbits of info if you like. **

**I promise to try and get a chapter out at least once a month from now on.**


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